After saying this, Qin Fang could no longer hold on. His vision went black, and he collapsed into unconsciousness.
The burly, fleshy-faced man strode forward and snatched the golden chain from Qin Fang's hand.
He wiped it carefully. Then, ignoring the fact that it had just been clutched in Qin Fang's filthy hand, he stuck it right in his mouth and bit down.
Everyone else crowded around, looking at this Brother Long with anticipation.
Brother Long bit down, and a link snapped under the pressure. He looked closely, a flash of ecstasy appearing in his eyes.
"It's real!"
"Really?!"
The others immediately turned to Qin Fang, their eyes gleaming. They swarmed him at once, their hands rummaging all over his body.
One of them noticed the walking stick. He picked it up and saw that a small hole had been dug out of its middle section. It had been wrapped with a torn cloth, creating a hollow space.
Apparently, this was where the golden chain had been hidden.
But now, it was completely empty.
"Fuck, he's so damn filthy... There's nothing else."
They rummaged around for a while, pulling out Qin Fang's identity papers and the Dagger at his waist.
But they found nothing else of value.
The filthy Qin Fang made them all curse and grumble.
One man asked Brother Long in a low voice, "Brother Long, that guy just said... there's more outside the city..."
He licked his lips, his greed on full display.
This was gold!
More valuable than Silver!
The currency of Great Yu was based on the Great Yu Tongbao.
One Tongbao was one wen. A thousand Tongbao made one diao, which was roughly equal to one tael of Silver.
Ten taels of Silver equaled one tael of gold.
But this was the official exchange rate.
In reality, during transactions among the common people... it usually took twelve diao to exchange for one tael of Silver.
And it also took about twelve taels of Silver to get one tael of gold.
This depended on whether the currency was minted by the government or by private minters.
Privately minted Silver generally had a lower silver content than Official Silver, so the ratios were different.
And while the golden chain this refugee had produced wasn't particularly thick... it still weighed a full tael!
In other words, it was worth more than twelve taels of Silver!
...For an ordinary farmer's family, that was likely their entire annual income!
The men stared at the golden chain, their eyes burning with desire.
They all subconsciously swallowed.
"I can't believe a refugee could be this rich..."
"Don't underestimate them. Who knows who they were before they became refugees? He could have been the son of some rich family..."
They muttered among themselves.
Brother Long looked down at the unconscious Qin Fang and made a swift decision.
"Go get a cart!"
"To save him?" The men looked at Brother Long, their eyes shining.
"Save my ass!"
Brother Long sneered. "But first, we need to wake him up and get him to tell us where he's hidden the rest of his money!"
Clearly, this Brother Long had no intention of saving Qin Fang at all.
But he needed to wake Qin Fang first.
His eyes glinted with greed as he suppressed his excitement. "Dammit, our lucky break has finally come, brothers... A refugee who can casually pull out a golden chain must have more hidden away!"
"What about our patrol duty...?" someone asked quietly.
"Patrol my ass! We'll just pretend we're moving a corpse in a bit. Don't worry, nothing will go wrong. There are other crews on watch here."
Brother Long was decisive.
The men immediately nodded in agreement...
This was a job involving gold!
When would they ever get a chance like this?
Soon enough, someone went and got a small cart used for transporting corpses. The men clumsily lifted Qin Fang onto it, and after making sure no one was paying attention to them, they left directly...
...
SPLASH!
In his daze, it felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over his head.
Qin Fang grunted and blearily opened his eyes.
But his head was still aching, and his vision was hazy and blurred.
A voice rang out in his ear: "Brother Long, he's waking up! He's waking up!"
Soon, he heard a flurry of footsteps, and a somewhat familiar, urgent voice spoke right beside his ear: "Kid, wake up! Where did you hide the rest of your money?"
They asked him several times. Qin Fang's consciousness was still a chaotic blur. The man even had to shake him forcefully before he regained a bit of clarity.
He managed to force his eyes open and immediately saw that fleshy, brutish face.
His mind began to clear, and he gradually became aware of his current situation.
A quick glance at his surroundings sent a chill through his heart. He knew... these people had no intention of saving him.
They just wanted to get the location of his hidden money out of him.
But thankfully... he had never gambled on their kindness.
He had gambled...
...on their greed!
So he kept his gaze dazed and unfocused, and didn't answer.
The fleshy-faced Brother Long looked anxious. "Hey, don't you die on me! Say something! Speak! Where's your money hidden?!"
He even slapped Qin Fang across the face a few times, trying to make him more lucid.
Qin Fang's cheeks immediately became red and swollen. He had no strength in his body, but he logged this debt in his mind. He simply maintained his unfocused gaze.
Brother Long asked several more times, but got no answer.
Annoyed, he shoved Qin Fang aside and sat down to calm his temper.
Voices came from the side.
"Looks like he's in bad shape... Should we get him some help first?"
"Help my ass! With injuries like his, who knows how much it would cost to heal him? Wouldn't it be better for us brothers to use that money on a few good rounds of drinks? Why waste it on a refugee?" someone retorted.
Qin Fang's gaze was unfocused, but he tried to catch a glimpse of the speaker's face from the corner of his eye...
He just barely made it out.
He had a shifty, rat-like face, looked to be in his thirties, and had a mole near his mouth.
After speaking, he curled his lip. "Besides... to be honest, I doubt he even has any more money..."
Hearing this, the others subconsciously looked at him, and a thoughtful suspicion appeared in their eyes as well.
Qin Fang's weak voice piped up, "I... this young master... have lots of... gold leaves..."
Everyone immediately whipped their heads around to look at Qin Fang.
But they only saw his dazed and unfocused gaze; the words from his mouth seemed to be uttered unconsciously.
Gold leaves...
Everyone swallowed hard.
"Where are the gold leaves?!"
Brother Long quickly pressed for more, clearly hoping to seize the opportunity to get some clues.
But immediately after, Qin Fang went silent again. He mumbled something unintelligible, and soon his head drooped, his eyes closing as if he had fallen back into unconsciousness.
In reality, however, he was forcing himself to stay alert, listening to the commotion around him.
After a long while, Qin Fang heard the people beside him discussing in low voices: "He calls himself 'young master'... Could he really be the son of some rich family?"
"Would the son of a rich family become a refugee?"
"Have you forgotten how long this drought has lasted? Add the refugee crisis on top of that... it's not impossible."
"So what do we do? Save him or not?"
They began to discuss it in low tones.
Qin Fang's heart was in his throat.
In his current state, if no one helped him, he would almost certainly die!
After a long moment, Qin Fang heard a voice grit out through clenched teeth.
"Kid, if you dare try to trick me, I'll make you wish you were dead! ...Let's go! To Huichun Hall!"
Hearing this, Qin Fang's Spirit relaxed; he knew they were really going to save him now.
Once his Spirit relaxed, his consciousness once again faded into oblivion...
...